Tolentino advises IATF to create a legal division to review its rules
Senator Francis ‘’Tol’’ Tolentino on Wednesday, Jan. 9 advised the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to create its own legal division in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tolentino said this division would review the legality of such rules before making them public to avoid confusion.
This would avoid IATF from giving out and later withdrawing its rules and to avoid suits from being filed in the courts, he added.
As an example, Tolentino cited a ‘’no vaccine, no ride’’ policy of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) which was challenged by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) which said workers should be exempted.
He also cited a Department of Health (DOH) memorandum which stated that government may give its consent to the vaccination of children with ages ranging from five to 11 despite the refusal of their parents.
`The DOH withdrew this memorandum after a suit was filed by parents asking a Quezon City regional trial court (RTC) to stop the memorandum because it is unconstitutional.
Tolentino said the proposed IATF legal division could be headed by the Department of Justice (DOJ).